North Korea's Kim Jong Il

North Korean President Kim Il Sung, left, talks to his son, Kim Jong Il, while visiting a sports complex in 1992. Kim Il Sung died July 8, 1994, at age 82. Kim Jong Il did not formally take power until three years later, but he was unquestionably the new leader following his father's death. The flow of information out of the communist nation is sparse, and there are few verifiable details on the lives of either man.

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Fireworks explode in the sky over Paektu Mountain, North Korea's highest mountain and the purported birth place of Kim Jong Il, Feb. 14, 2003, to mark the reclusive leader's 61st birthday on Feb. 16. Contrary to Kim's official biography, Western historians say he was in fact born in Siberia, where his father was exiled during World War Two.

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To outsiders, the personality cults that North Korea has built around Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il are almost unimaginable in their slavishness. But for North Koreans, worshipping the Kims is as much a part of life as breathing. Here, thousands of North Korean children dance and hold up colored cards to form a picture of Kim Il Sung at a rally in the capital city of Pyongyang, April 28, 1995.

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Kim Jong Il, front left, sits with his first-born son Kim Jong Nam, Aug. 19, 1981. Little is known about the leader's family, and this photo's publication by South Korea's Choongang Monthly was the first time father and son were pictured together. Also pictured are Sung Hye Ryang, back left, sister of Kim's former wife Sung Hye Rim, and her two children. Kim is believed to have three children by different mothers.

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Kim Jong Il is known as a movie enthusiast, and reportedly has a film library of over 15,000 titles, with slasher flicks among his favorites. This scene is from the 1985 movie "Pulgasari," a North Korean version of Godzilla. South Korean movie director Shin Sang-ok made the movie while he and his wife were held prisoner by Kim from 1978 to 1986.

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After a three-year mourning period for his father, Kim Jong Il was elected head of the ruling Workers Party, Oct. 8, 1997. This Korea News Service photo shows what the agency says is North Korean workers celebrating the news. The North Korean press heralded Kim's ascension with reports of "mysterious natural phenomena" such as the out-of-season blooming of apricot trees.

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At the beginning of a historic three day summit between the two halves of the Korean peninsula, Kim Jong Il, left, and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung shake hands at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, June 13, 2000.

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Kim Jong Il downs a drink during a toast with a South Korean media representative in Pyongyang, Aug. 12, 2000. Kim, who has reportedly indulged a thirst for alcohol with cases of pricey cognac purchased in spite of his people's poverty, warmed the hearts of many southerners with his jokes and playful "one shot" drinking on TV during the historic inter-Korea summit In Pyongyang that year.

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U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stands with Kim Jong Il at the Pae Kha Hawon Guest House in Pyongyang, October 23, 2000. Albright, the highest level U.S. official to visit North Korea in 50 years, met with the North Korean leader in an effort to ease tensions between the two nations.

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Japanese police officers escort a man believed to Kim Jon Il's eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, as he walks out of a police van to board an airplane heading to Beijing at Narita International Airport, May 4, 2001. A blaze of publicity was ignited after the man's family reportedly tried to use forged passports to take a luxury vacation at Tokyo Disneyland.

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Kim Jong Il, left, gestures, as he talks with Konstantin Pulikovsky, Russian President Vladimir Putin's representative in the Far East, right, inside Khasan station across the Russian-North Korean border, July 26, 2001. Kim was on a 10-day train journey to Moscow aboard the Trans-Siberian Railway, his third foreign trip in seven years as leader.

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A Chinese tourist picks up a book of stamps featuring North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and his father Kim Il Sung, at a stall at the border town of Dandong, in northeast China's Liaoning province, Oct. 2, 2002. The town, which lies across the Yalu River from the North Korean town of Sinuiju, has become a popular destination for Chinese tourists, who can ride boats to within 30 meters of the secretive nation's shore.

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Kim Jong Il, center, visits a military unit at an undisclosed area in North Korea, April 27, 2003. Kim, the commander of one of the world's largest armies, called for stronger military might during his visit to the unit. The official news agency KCNA said Kim was satisfied that his soldiers were ready to repel "any surprise attack of the enemy at one stroke."